Read Online Garden of the Gods (The Immortals Series Book 3) by S.M. Schmitz - Free Book Online
Authors: S.M. Schmitz
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knew Colin was attracted to you. We just figured he was too antisocial to know how to ask you out.”
Anna sighed. “Would you all shut up and let me finish? So I was walking through the woods, telling Colin he’d better knock it off even though I didn’t really mean it, and the next thing I know, I’m in this room that won’t stop spinning. Or it’s more like my head wouldn’t stop spinning, like that feeling when you’re really drunk. I never sensed any demon, I don’t remember being carried off or brought into that camp. It’s like they’d actually gotten inside my head and taken over…”
Anna stopped talking. Her mouth felt dry even though she was still holding onto a beer bottle that was nearly full. And because the thought or realization had hit Anna, it came to Colin, too.
“Holy shit,” he muttered.
Anna’s fingers trembled as she brought the beer bottle to her lips. The other hunters got tired of waiting for the O’Conners to explain what the hell they were silently talking about. Except Anna wasn’t really talking about anything. But she was sure there was only one way she could have ended up in that camp. She had gone there on her own.
“Wait, what do you mean?” Dylan asked. “You didn’t even know where you were. I was right there by Colin when you woke up. You thought you were in some other building.”
But Anna just shook her head again. “It did it. That demon. It took over my mind, separated me from Colin and forced me to run away from the rest of you. The only reason it let go of me and didn’t kill me is because it wanted Colin, too. We thought it wanted my soul, but it doesn’t care about our souls. It was figuring out how blessed we are, and then it knew Colin would come for me, but it hadn’t been planning on this new gift.”
Luca’s dark eyes shifted between Colin and Anna. Of all the Immortals, he had the most difficult time making sense of any of this, because he knew how demons behaved better than anyone. And this wasn’t like them to let Anna live.
“It could have killed you. It should have. Colin was cut off, so he didn’t know if you were alive or not. Letting you live doesn’t make any sense unless it was trying to get your soul. And even you said it was playing those mind games and offering to end it in exchange for your soul.”
“No,” Colin interjected. “That demon never actually said that’s what it wanted. What it told her was she knew there was a way to end her suffering. It wanted some deal, and we’ve been assuming it was her soul because that’s what demons always want but not these three. They’ve declared war on the Immortals, and they had one and she lived. It wanted something else.”
“Like what?” Andrew asked.
He looked skeptical and Colin couldn’t blame him. Demons always chased after souls. After all, that’s what the entire battle between Heaven and Hell was about.
But Colin was convinced he was right about this, in which case it could be far worse for them and the rest of mankind in the end if those demons were ever successful. “It wanted her servitude.”
Chapter 8
Colin awoke to the sound of Anna’s phone ringing from their living room. After a panicked moment of making sure Anna was just sleeping and her dreams were only hers, he slid out of bed to find her phone. They’d both been asleep for over six hours, which was a longer stretch of sleep than they’d gotten in weeks. Colin tried to rub the bleariness from his eyes, but it didn’t work. Mostly, he just wanted to go back to bed, but as soon as her phone quit ringing, it started up again.
He found her cell phone buried in the couch cushions and freed it, but he didn’t recognize the number. It was a Boulder area code though, so he answered it while deciding he’d brave the mechanics of the coffee maker. It wasn’t the coffee maker itself that concerned him; he didn’t seem to have the same affinity Anna had for getting that perfect ratio of
Anna sighed. “Would you all shut up and let me finish? So I was walking through the woods, telling Colin he’d better knock it off even though I didn’t really mean it, and the next thing I know, I’m in this room that won’t stop spinning. Or it’s more like my head wouldn’t stop spinning, like that feeling when you’re really drunk. I never sensed any demon, I don’t remember being carried off or brought into that camp. It’s like they’d actually gotten inside my head and taken over…”
Anna stopped talking. Her mouth felt dry even though she was still holding onto a beer bottle that was nearly full. And because the thought or realization had hit Anna, it came to Colin, too.
“Holy shit,” he muttered.
Anna’s fingers trembled as she brought the beer bottle to her lips. The other hunters got tired of waiting for the O’Conners to explain what the hell they were silently talking about. Except Anna wasn’t really talking about anything. But she was sure there was only one way she could have ended up in that camp. She had gone there on her own.
“Wait, what do you mean?” Dylan asked. “You didn’t even know where you were. I was right there by Colin when you woke up. You thought you were in some other building.”
But Anna just shook her head again. “It did it. That demon. It took over my mind, separated me from Colin and forced me to run away from the rest of you. The only reason it let go of me and didn’t kill me is because it wanted Colin, too. We thought it wanted my soul, but it doesn’t care about our souls. It was figuring out how blessed we are, and then it knew Colin would come for me, but it hadn’t been planning on this new gift.”
Luca’s dark eyes shifted between Colin and Anna. Of all the Immortals, he had the most difficult time making sense of any of this, because he knew how demons behaved better than anyone. And this wasn’t like them to let Anna live.
“It could have killed you. It should have. Colin was cut off, so he didn’t know if you were alive or not. Letting you live doesn’t make any sense unless it was trying to get your soul. And even you said it was playing those mind games and offering to end it in exchange for your soul.”
“No,” Colin interjected. “That demon never actually said that’s what it wanted. What it told her was she knew there was a way to end her suffering. It wanted some deal, and we’ve been assuming it was her soul because that’s what demons always want but not these three. They’ve declared war on the Immortals, and they had one and she lived. It wanted something else.”
“Like what?” Andrew asked.
He looked skeptical and Colin couldn’t blame him. Demons always chased after souls. After all, that’s what the entire battle between Heaven and Hell was about.
But Colin was convinced he was right about this, in which case it could be far worse for them and the rest of mankind in the end if those demons were ever successful. “It wanted her servitude.”
Chapter 8
Colin awoke to the sound of Anna’s phone ringing from their living room. After a panicked moment of making sure Anna was just sleeping and her dreams were only hers, he slid out of bed to find her phone. They’d both been asleep for over six hours, which was a longer stretch of sleep than they’d gotten in weeks. Colin tried to rub the bleariness from his eyes, but it didn’t work. Mostly, he just wanted to go back to bed, but as soon as her phone quit ringing, it started up again.
He found her cell phone buried in the couch cushions and freed it, but he didn’t recognize the number. It was a Boulder area code though, so he answered it while deciding he’d brave the mechanics of the coffee maker. It wasn’t the coffee maker itself that concerned him; he didn’t seem to have the same affinity Anna had for getting that perfect ratio of
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